After three months of what I like to call micro-farming, my answer to “is it worth growing your own veggies?” is: definitely yes!

In this post, I will share what I have experienced to be the main reasons why I firmly believe that it is well worth it to grow your own veggies.

This is what you will find.

1. Contact with nature
2. It is extremely relaxing
3. Safe food at hand’s reach
4. Environmentally friendly food
5. Potential $avings 
6. Community building
7. It’s so much fun!

HOW I STARTED GROWING MY OWN VEGGIES

To be honest, I only started considering growing my own veggies, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before that, I had considered starting to grow herbs, but growing veggies and fruit with the dedication we are putting in at the moment was never on my plans.

The pandemic made me not only realise, but also scarily feel how dependant we are on external food suppliers. With the initial panic and shortages of food products, prices of essential vegetables increased. Being vegan, this became a major concern for me.

On the other hand, having to put our new business plans on hold, also played an important part, as we had time on our hands.

Not to mention that, coincidence or not, we had just moved to our new home, in a micro-farm, a couple of days before the lockdown in Portugal.

As the Universe wanted it, all the conditions were created for me to embark on the rewarding experience of producing my own food.

The last three months have been an exciting learning process with already fruitful results.

However, some of the benefits of growing my own veggies took me by surprise.

1 – Contact with nature

As surprising as it may seem, the first reward for starting to grow my own veggies was the contact with nature.

There is something special about handling soil, nurturing and caring for seeds and seedlings and preparing the place where you are going to plant.

Whether your option is to plant in a veggie bed, a flowerbed or even pots and vases, there should always be thought as to how to do it so that your efforts yield a fruitful return.

Sun and light exposure, position in relation to wind, climatic conditions, type of soil, PH, acidity, nutrients, just to name a few factors, put you in direct contact with what nature has to offer.

All of these considerations made me think, and in a way connect, to the marvellous power of nature, for better and for worst.

2 – It is extremely relaxing

The second reason why I am a firm believer that it is worth growing your own veggies is a consequence of contact with nature.

I have found the whole process extremely therapeutical. In my case, working mostly outdoors, put me in a situation that I was not used to. But even if you are doing your veggie growth indoors, which I did in the beginning, it is extremely relaxing.

The whole process of researching, deciding what to plant, sowing your first seeds or waiting for roots to develop proved to be a mindful experience. For whatever time I dedicate to my veggie garden, my mind is totally focused on the moment and all other thoughts take second place.

3 – Safe food at hands reach

I would say the most important reason why it is worth growing your own veggies is for health reasons.

How many times do you wonder about the pesticides that go into the fruit and vegetables you buy in supermarkets and even in farmers markets?

Even when buying bioproducts, I sometimes wonder how truly bio they are. 

I’ll give you an example. I once visited a bio farm in an agricultural region in the centre of Portugal. The farm is organic, but what about its neighbours? 

On the way there, we witnessed them (the neighbours) pulverizing their crops with big machines. How does that impact the organic farm next door, considering the possibility of water and air transportation? 

4 – Environmentally friendly food

If like me, you are concerned with the sate of planet earth, then growing your own veggies makes it also worth it for environmental reasons.

Think of what goes into the production of pesticides and the pesticides themselves, carbon emissions due to the use of machinery, vehicles for transportation and the whole production process.

Is that going to make a difference? Say, in one kilo of carrots probably not but multiplied over the years and for different vegetables, it will. 

5 – Potential $avings

Another reason why it is worth to grow your own veggies is the potential savings from not having to buy them.

The saving will depend on the scale of your home production and how much you spend on it. If you start off buying lots of seeds, expensive materials, tools, fancy pots, and many other gardening accessories, there will be no room for savings.

However, if you reuse recycle and upcycle things from your daily use your costs will stay at a minimum.

Things like toilet paper rolls, plastic bottles, tins, plastic trays and even your kid’s beach shovel can help keep your initial costs down.

On the other hand, you can start growing your vegetables at zero additional cost with what you already have at home. You can use the seeds of the fruit and vegetables that you purchase normally and you can also root herbs from the ones you have at home.

I have been quite successful planting a sprouted potato, tips of leek, seeds from red peppers, garlic clove, dried green peas and black beans.

6 – Community building

Once you get into veggie growing it is natural to become involved with the gardening community, be it online or with your neighbours.

This is an extremely rewarding aspect of growing your own veggies.

At the time I am writing this post, we have just moved to our micro-farm, in an agricultural area south of Lisbon, Portugal. We have been here for only three months and are already exchanging seeds, seedlings, information, products and even sub-products, like jams and dried herbal tea.

I was so excited about sharing my experience and learning from other home growers that I even started a Facebook group called Home Grown Portugal. 

Be sure to join if you are interested. All you need to do to join is answer a couple of very basic questions.

7 – It is so much fun!

Besides the reasons presented above, as I mentioned in the post about mood-boosting indoor activities, growing your own veggies is a lot of fun!

The excitement of watching your veggies grow day after day is just amazing. Not to mention the exhilarating feeling of eating a dish made with greens and veggies grown thanks to your love and dedication.

At this time of obligatory confinement, growing our own veggies has added zest to our lives by taking away or distracting us from some of the worries that this pandemic had landed on our laps.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The most unexpected thing I’ve learned from growing vegetables is how healing the whole process is. From handling the soil to taking care of seeds and seedlings, to making sure the soil is adequate to plant and transplant.

Watching your food grow, day after day is an amazing feeling. The ultimate joy is witnessing the final product, harvesting and eating something you nurtured and grew yourself. It is an immense joy but also a responsibility to make sure that the growth goes well.

For sure there are many other benefits to growing your own veggies. The reasons presented above are the result of only three months of gardening, but I hope this post has inspired you to give it a try.

Have you tried growing your own veggies? Have you experienced any other benefits that I have not mentioned?

Please share your views on the comments below.